


Gløwing Søuls (Build Me Up)

by isleofflightlessduns



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Afterlife, Death, Depression, Forrest - Freeform, Gen, Ghost!Josh, Glowing Eyes, LITERALLY, M/M, Slowtown, Souls, Stressed Out, Suicide, Suicide Attempts, but also very fluffy, dead, forrest realm, ghost fic, ghost!tyler, josh and tyler are great, joshler - Freeform, kinda sad, literal glowing eyes, realms in general, self harm mentions, they're ghosts, what an emo fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-14
Updated: 2016-08-24
Packaged: 2018-08-08 19:19:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7769929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/isleofflightlessduns/pseuds/isleofflightlessduns
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which a boy finds himself dead, with no memories of his previous life. A friendly soul helps him find out who he is, but it turns out the two have a lot more in common than they thought.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part Øne

A young boy sat at the base of a tree.  He was scared. Arms looped around knees as he stared at the forest around of him. It was unnaturally over-enhanced. It looked too green to be real. The sky was barely visible, but from what the boy could see, it was cloudy blue, and it appeared fake too.

Was any of this real? Or was it just a messed up dream, one that you could just shake yourself from?

The boy looked around. It was just trees, all over. Just like an everlasting forest. There was no horizon, just mist and trunks. He was miles from anywhere.

 _‘Think happy thoughts, think happy thoughts, think happy thoughts,’_ the boy closed his eyes as he started to panic. But he couldn’t think. His mind was blank. He didn’t remember anything. How did he get here? Where was he? He had no idea.

He didn’t even know his name, or what he looked like. He had to get out of here. Standing up, he started to stumble across the floor. His feet couldn’t keep up with his legs, and he toppled over a root, landing in the greenery. The grass felt soft, not like the rough blades in his front garden at home.

He cursed, groaning slightly. It was silent in the forest. But out of nowhere, he heard a tune. It was a recognisable tune but he didn’t know what it was.

Is that a voice? And a guitar….? _No, not a guitar._ The boy leapt up and listened closely, slowly walking. He had to find out where this song was coming from.

He followed the sounds, looking all over. It felt really close.

“ _I need you more than anyone, darlin’, more that I have from the start,_ ”

The boy suddenly looked up, and saw another boy sitting in the tree above. He was wearing all black, except for his bright red socks. His hair was dark brown and sticking up a little. A floral kimono hung off his figure, the back of it gracefully falling down the other side of the branch, blowing in the soft breeze. A ukulele was in his hands, and he was strumming along. His eyes were gazing at the sky.

The boy called up to him. “Hey..!”

“ _So build me up,_ ” Looking down, the other teenager gave a small smile and lowered his voice.

Eyes locked together.

“ _Buttercup,_ ” the teen said, letting a hand stray from the instrument and pointed at the boy briefly, “ _Don’t break my heart,_ ”

He then strummed a little harder for the ending and abruptly stopped.  He grabbed the ukulele by the neck and neatly hopped off the branch. “Hey,”

“Hi, um, I was wondering if you could tell me where I am, maybe?” The first boy asked.

“Ah. What’s your name, flossie?” Ukulele-boy replied, seeing the unnatural colour of the boy’s hair. It was pale pink, like candy floss.

The other thought for a while. “I-I don’t know.”

Ukulele-boy stared at him. “Oh dear. I’m Tyler. Nice to meet you, _I don’t know_.”

“That was lame.” The boy grumbled at the joke. “Anyway, where are we?”

“Uhm,” Tyler hesitated. “Hate to be the one to tell you, but you’re, uh, dead. We’re in the afterlife realm. Or heaven, whatever sounds kinder to you.”

Pink-boy’s face dropped. It went pale, crumpling up a little.

“Hey, hey, don’t cry, please, buttercup.” Tyler dived in. His ukulele was on a piece of string, tied at the neck and the bottom, around his torso. It rode up his back. He stepped forward, pushing the ukulele out of the way and cautiously reached out to pat pink-boy’s shoulder awkwardly.

“I’m dead? You're joking, right? _I'm dead!_ How? I don’t remember dying, _oh god_ , I don’t want to be dead!” Pink-boy cried. His sleeves went up to wipe his tears.

“Shh, first stage of grief is denial, fren.” stated Tyler. He felt the distressing presence coming from the boy, and he had a sudden urge to help. He knew what would happen if he didn’t.

“I’ll help you,” he blurted. “I’ll help you find out who you are.”

Pink-boy looked Tyler in the eye. “You will…?”

“Sure!” Tyler smiled. He looked pink-boy up and down. “Wait, do you remember anything? At all?”

“Nope, nothing at all.”

“Ah. I thought as much. So you don’t know what you look like, then?”

Pink-boy shook his head.

“I guess I’ll have to show you,” Tyler smirked. His hands came together, shaking a little as he tensed them. A small, pale blue sparkly light grew in-between his palms, growing. He suddenly clasped his hands around it and pulled out a handheld mirror.

“Here,” he said, holding out the mirror to his new, now slightly confused friend. “Take it,”

Pink-boy noticed that upon Tyler’s wrist was a white rubber band. He slowly took the mirror, and held it up to his face. Staring at himself, he saw pale skin, accompanied with the pastel pink hue of his hair. Black stretchers in his ears gave him a punky sort of look. His whole outfit was also black, more or less. A pair of Doc Marten boots were on his feet, and skinny jeans clung to his legs. On his torso was a black shirt with a UFO on it, the words ‘I want to believe’ printed in white. Over that was a hoodie, again, black, with red patterned sleeves and pockets. His hand was long at the top and down the back, being shorter at the sides. Pink-boy’s eyes were a soft, dark brown.

“Hmm. I still don’t know my name, though,” he said, handing the mirror back to Tyler.

“That’s next on the list. I know we’ve got eternity, but, we can’t take our time on this one.”

Pink-boy frowned. “Why’s that?" 

“Well,” Tyler started to walk, and the boy followed. “You’d die. But again. Painfully. So, uh, you’d go to purgatory.”

“Purgatory? Like in the bible?”

“Nah,” Tyler bluntly stated. “You’ll just burn out in a few days. Literally - just go up in flames. I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen to you, though. I like you,”

A shrug came from pink-boy.

“Cheer up, flossie,” Tyler stretched out to touch the boy’s hair. It was soft and fluffy, just like cotton-candy. He tugged on it gently, a small blue spark came from his fingers and he took his arm away sharply. He had a handful of candy-floss, in the same shade of pink-boy’s hair. Tyler ripped it in half, and offered him some.

“What the fu--” Pink-boy started.

“--Frick.” Tyler cut him off. “That’s a bad word, fren, you shouldn’t use it.”

“Alright,” pink-boy grumbled, taking the cotton-candy. “What the _frick_ , man.”

A smile came from Tyler. He watched as pink-boy looked at the candy before nibbling it. Tyler took a bite, too.

“How the heck do you do that?”

Tyler chewed. “Do what?”

“You know,” pink-boy brought his hands together and made a small poof noise. “The blue stuff. The sparkly blue, what’s that?”

“Aahh. That’s soul-magic, Buttercup. It’s the purest form of your soul-energy that you can physically harness. It’s a skill to master, but hey, I’ve been stuck here for a while now, so I learnt how to do it. One day I'll teach you, cotton-candy boy,” Tyler explained.

“Hmm. Seems interesting. Why’s it blue?”

“You’re a curious one, you know, Buttercup.” Tyler replied, before bringing out his palm and showing it to the boy. Sparks shot down his vein, the glow visible from under the thin fabric of the kimono. They lit up his wrist, illuminating the rubber band. It collected in his fingertips like a flame. “My soul gives off a blue light, see.”

The two walked through the trees. Pink-boy had no idea where he was going. He wasn’t really bothered though.

“I’ll tell you about souls, and the afterlife.” added Tyler.

Pink-boy nodded. 

“Right, uh, where do I start… Oh yeah. Souls are the colour that you make it throughout your life. They all start off pure white, like a dove. Different decisions add or cancel out different colours.” Tyler described the soul as a canvas. They all start off blank, but as life throws situations at you like paint, they change according to your emotions. Souls are very, very connected to emotions.

Pink-boy furrowed his brows. “Were you sad when you died, then? Blue’s a sad colour.”

Tyler frowned. He was silent. His hand crept over to his wrist. A finger latched itself under the rubber band, and he pulled it back, and let it snap against his skin.

“I’m sorry, it’s okay, you don’t have to say, Ty.” Pink-boy quickly said biting his lip. He realised that what he asked before was probably a bit too personal.

“No, no, it’s fine. I’ll end up telling you one day, maybe, buttercup,” Tyler replied quietly. His arms dropped to his sides, and he pushed his slipping ukulele behind onto his back. He held the string so it wouldn’t fall again. “It should’ve been a green colour, but hey, stuff happens.”

Pink-boy nodded again. “Okay,” 

“Yeah,” Tyler responded flatly.

It was a few minutes before Tyler spoke again. This time he told pink-boy all about afterlife.

Apparently, when you die, your soul is transported to the after-life realm. It’s actually called The Forrest Realm. Contrary to what many religions believe, there’s no heaven, or hell. There’s Forrest and there’s Purgatory.

In the middle of Forrest, was a huge tree. It held all souls worthy enough to have their final resting place there. The tree had many, many leaves, and, every leaf held a soul. When someone died, their soul would be automatically transported to the Forrest. The souls would become dormant, and ‘sleep’ for the rest of eternity. Each soul generates it’s own paradise in the leaf, a domain full of favourite memories and moments from their previous, active life. Forrest did quite literally mean what it said. For rest, an eternal resting place for human souls. It sounded like forest, and that’s where it was. In a huge forest.

Tyler had managed to escape his, and had ended up in the outskirts, in the ever-lasting forest.

“But how did I end up here?” the boy asks, looking at Tyler. “How did you get out? Why don’t I remember my name?”

“So many questions, cotton candy boy… Be quiet for a moment, will you? Buttercup, patience is key.” 

The boy sighed. “Fine,”

Tyler thanked him and continued. Purgatory was like Forrest on a smaller scale. It was for the souls not worthy, or refused souls. The ones who’d died on death row, or killed another mammal with their own hands, or had simply been rejected from the vessel. People without souls are more commonly known as sociopaths. Purgatory was basically a dumping ground for corrupt souls.

So in a way, it was similar to the biblical heaven and hell but not so simple. However reincarnation was also involved. Sometimes souls get confused. When babies are growing inside the womb, at first they don’t have a heart. The second the heart starts to beat, a soul enters and stays in the heart. If a soul accidentally picked a wrong vessel, then the baby would be stillborn, and the soul would then go on to find the correct vessel.

The reason that pink-boy ended up in the outskirts of Forrest is because of a ‘rogue’ soul. A mistake was made somewhere, and a soul had ended up in Purgatory that wasn’t meant to be there, so it gets transported to Forrest. These are called rogue souls.

 “So it unconsciously stole the leaf that your soul should have been in,” Tyler explained. “And _your_ soul ends up on the outside instead.”

“Why wasn’t there a spare leaf anyway?”

“Forrest only grows just enough for one said time. So in a rare event like this, there’s no exceptions. You’re just left wandering.”

“Oh,” Pink-boy said.

Tyler stopped, looking around the forest. He looked at pink-boy, who leant against a tree. His eyes stared at him, and his thoughts raced. The boy seemed so familiar, but Tyler couldn’t place him.

“The reason why you’ve forgotten everything is because your soul woke up outside your leaf, which means all your memories from your past life are forgotten, if that makes any sense.” 

Pink-boy started breathing quickly. His gaze darted.

“Hey, buttercup, you okay?” Tyler asked, coming forward.

“I’m just going to stay here then? Without a name? _Or even knowing how I died--?_ ” Pink-boy’s voice was fast and panicked.

Tyler held up a hand to stop him. He slowly brought it to his face, placing a finger over his mouth. “Shh, buttercup. Shhhhh.”

“--But _what’s going to happen to me?_ ”

“Shhh,” Tyler hushed. He looked at the canopies above. “We’ll find your memories, alright?”

There was no reply. “...Flossie?”

Tyler looked back and saw pink-boy in tears. “Hey, hey, look at me, I know what to do, it’s gonna be okay,”

Pink-boy continued to sob. He muffled a few inaudible words.

“Listen, buttercup, we’re going to get your memories back." 

“But what’ll happen after that?”

Tyler thought for a moment. “What did you want to do when you were alive? Where did you want to visit?”

Pink-boy squinted his eyes. A bracelet caught his eyes. He knew that band, didn't he? He had to, if it was on a bracelet, right? Is that his favourite band? It was worth a shot. “I wanted to see Blink-182 in concert. I never got the chance to see them live.”

“So that’s what you’ll do. We’ll go see them in concert.” Tyler grinned.

“Where do you think my memories will be?” Pink-boy sniffed.

Tyler sighed. “My best bet is that they’re with your vessel. Just gotta hope that you haven’t been buried or cremated yet.”

“Are we nearly there then? I kind of don’t wanna burn up and die _again_ , Ty,”

A chill made it’s way up Tyler’s spine. Ty… Ty? That nickname - why was it so familiar?

They started to walk again, this time a little faster. Tyler was taking them to a portal he found in the hollow of a tree. It was a portal to the present-life realm. The two barely made an attempt of talking, as pink-boy was too occupied in his surroundings that the only time he looked at Tyler was to make sure he was still following him.

 “Are there any animals in this forest?”

“Huh? Oh, animals. Occasionally you’d see deer, they’re the guardians of the forest. But they have human faces. They’re pretty chill. Bit creepy if you ask me though.”

Pink-boy grunted understandingly. “Is there any other 'wandering' souls?”

Tyler shrugged. “No, not really. Not in Forrest. On earth there are a few, but they’re crazy. I met one once and he tried to steal my ukulele.”

“Hey, about your ukulele… Why do you have it? Were you buried with it?” Pink-boy asked innocently.

“Nah, I died with it,”

“Oh…” 

“Yeah, you stay in the clothes you died in. I chose to wear these clothes, and I chose to keep my ukulele with me.”

 “You chose? What does that mea-- Oh. _Ohhh…._ ” Pink-boy suddenly realised. Tyler had chosen what he'd have with him when he died. This meant he probably knew when he was going to go. Tyler _chose_ to die...?

Again, Tyler kept quiet. He pointed to a tree in front. “Here,”

The tree had a carving on it. It was a straight vertical line, next to a dash that connected it to a another line, a diagonal one that went to the right.

Pink-boy stepped forward, putting his fingers on the carving. It seemed quite old.

“I’ve seen this before, I swear…”

Tyler raised an eyebrow. “Doubt it.” It was a logo that he’d used since.... well, forever. A little logo for him and his closest friends. A secret clique that only they knew about.

“Anyway, you up for climbing? It’s up there.” Tyler asked, pointing up to the branches, where there was a small yellow glow. “Follow me, flossie.”

Easily, Tyler scrambled up the trunk with no hassle. The boy, on the other hand, carefully stepped and coordinated his moves. Tyler ended up grabbing his hand and pulling him up.

“Watch your step,” Tyler said, the light illuminating his face. 

The trunk of the tree was completely hollow. The boy peered down. It didn't seem to end. It was just a bright, glowing descend to somewhere new.

“Uh, I guess you can go first. It’s a long way, but it only takes a few seconds. You’ll feel a little tingle in your chest as you go through. Ready?” Tyler held onto the limbs of the tree around him.

The boy hesitated. “This _is_ safe, right?"

Tyler laughed and then smirked. “Dude, we’re dead. Can’t get any worse than that, cotton candy boy.”

“Ty, where does this go to?”

“Let’s find out.” Tyler said, tugging the boy towards him so he stumbled down the hole. 

Tyler slipped in after him.


	2. Part Twø

Tyler was right. There  _ was _ a tingle. Pink-boy was blinded by light for a few seconds. He felt a little tickly feeling where his heart was. Or where it was supposed to be. He didn’t know. Did he even have a heart? He was  _ dead _ , for god’s sake. 

Suddenly he toppled out of a tree trunk. He fell onto the forest floor and blinked as he took in his surroundings. It looked pretty much the same to the previous woodland he’d been in before, but he could hear birds singing, and it looked more realistic than the over-enhanced Forrest. It felt oddly reassuring.

Pink-boy looked behind him. The tree was identical to the one in Forrest.

A few seconds later, Tyler flew out of the tree too. He landed about a metre away from Pink-boy. Tyler stood up and adjusted his ukulele, bringing it round to the front of his body. His fingers plucked at the strings and he looked over to Pink-boy, catching his glare.

“You  _ pushed _ me,” he muttered. 

Tyler played a little tune. “What was that?”

Pink-boy frowned at him. “You pushed me down the portal! I could’ve broken my ankle, or, or something!”

“Oh, yeah…” Tyler smirked. “You can’t break bones when you’re  _ dead _ , buttercup…”

He held out his hand for Pink-boy to take, who moodily hesitated before taking it. Tyler hauled him up, a cocky smile landing on his face.

“We need to find your memories, yeah?” He remembered, tapping on the wooden frame of his ukulele. He played a note and then let it slide down, falling against his stomach on the string. “Buttercup, come here?”

Pink-boy did so. “What?”

Tyler made a fist with his hand. The blue flashed down his arm again and he tensed his fingers. He opened his hand again and produced a marker pen. Pink-boy looked at him in confusion.

“I need to draw tracking sigils on you, so we can find your vessel, mhm?”

Pink-boy raised his eyebrows suspiciously. “How is that, uh, gonna work?”

“Just trust me on this one, yea?” Tyler took the lid off with his teeth. “Give me your wrist for a sec,”

The boy offered his right arm. Tyler took his hand gently and turned it over, so the veins faced skyward. He started to draw a small sigil. It had three lines, and three dots. Tyler carefully tilted Pink-boy’s wrist forward, pushing back his sleeve. He gave a small sigh of relief, seeing the arm pale and bare, no marks on it. It was perfectly normal. At the end, there were four different symbols altogether. The first one, followed by an ‘O’ with a line down the middle, a cross shape with more lines and dots, and finally, two square brackets facing away from each other, with a small dot in the lower right. 

 

 

“How does it work?”

Tyler shushed him. He put his hand up and stopped. It hovered over Pink-boy’s chest for a moment. “Buttercup, do you mind if…? I just need to, uh, get to your heart.”

Pink-boy shook his head. His cheeks warmed with a faint blush. Tyler pulled back Pink-boy’s hoodie, and placed a hand over his chest, where his heart would lay if he were alive. Tyler’s other hand lay on the sigils. 

“This is probably going to feel a bit weird, sorry,” Tyler mentioned, giving an apologetic smile. He closed his brown eyes and started mumbling. “ _ Audite verba hæc, vas ex animae, nos ad te, dirigendos nobis placere… _ ”

Pink-boy had no idea what was happening. He had  _ so _ many questions… The first one rattled in his head.  _ ‘Is Tyler a witch?’ _ . He sounded like he was speaking Latin or something.  _ ‘What was he saying?’ _

Just as he opened his mouth to ask, Pink-boy felt a twisting inside his chest. It wasn’t painful, but it made him flinch badly.

“You okay? Does it hurt?” Tyler immediately asked. “I can stop if you want, Buttercup.”

A little nod came from Pink-boy. “Yeah, it’s fine, just a little uncomfortable, that’s all.”

The twisting felt as if he had a knotted rope inside, tangling with other knotted ropes until they became a matted mass of knotted ropes.

Tyler slowly brought his hand away. A blue glow followed, sparkles falling away from Pink-boy’s chest. 

“What did you do? What’s going to happen now?” Pink-boy looked down at his chest briefly, before turning back up to meet eyes with Tyler.

“Well, I guess I cast a spell on you. It’s not bad, though. Just a vessel-tracking spell. It’s gonna tug you towards your vessel, so your chest is going to feel a little bit tight.” Tyler explained. His hands were doing little motions. “You have to feel which way it’s pulling you in, and we have to follow it.”

Pink-boy thought for a moment. “But what if my vessel was on the other side of the world? We’d be walking forever! I don’t even know where we are now.”

Tyler smirked. “Ah, you see, I already thought about that. The portal takes us to a forest in Columbus, Ohio. Judging by your accent, you’re American like me. Ohio’s a good place to start, buttercup, y’know?”

_ ‘Plus the fact you seem oddly familiar and I grew up in Columbus and I swear I’ve seen you before,’  _ he added in his thoughts.

“Oh, that’s not creepy at all…” Muttered Pink-boy. The tugging feeling in his chest wanted him to move. He shrugged it off and started turning around into a spin to see what would happen. 

Tyler watched him in confusion. “Um, what are you doing…?”

“This feels so weird, man.” Pink-boy laughed to himself, and then he stopped, looking at Tyler. “ _ So weird. _ ”

The tugging inside was spinning with him. It was like a compass, when you spin one, the arrows stay pointing the same direction. When Pink-boy spinned, the pull stayed pulling the same way. He quickly whizzed round again. 

“Buttercup,” Tyler quietly said. 

“Yeah?”

“We need to go.” 

Pink-boy stopped. “Oh yeah. Sorry.” 

Tyler thanked him and asked which way he was being tugged. Pink-boy told him, and the two followed the magic. The forest was full of wildlife. Squirrels skittered in the branches as birds sung charming little songs. Flowers scattered the forest floor. They smelled so fresh and sweet. The bump of the ukulele could be heard against Tyler’s back as he walked along next to his friend.

The sound of traffic grew more prominent the further they walked. 

At the edge of the forest was a small stretch of grass, a fence, and then, a busy road. The two ghosts made their way across. Tyler led Pink-boy to the fence. He stopped.

“Wait, buttercup, wait,” Tyler paused, turning around. “Can you feel the fence?”

Pink-boy touched the wood. His finger went right through. He gasped, before putting his entire hand through. He couldn’t feel it. 

“Alright, that’s good… Try walking through it,” 

Hesitating a little, Pink-boy stepped forward. He went through the fence. It was like it wasn’t there. 

“This is so cool, I’m like a ghost!”

“But you are dea-- Yeah, you’re a ghost.” said Tyler. At least Pink-boy wasn’t sad, like Tyler was when he first found out-- Yeah. This was great. 

Tyler followed him through the fence and walked right past and into the road, into the midst of the traffic.

“Tyler!” Pink-boy yelled. He watched as car drove straight into him. But --  _ it was alright? _ Tyler  _ wasn’t _ hurt? 

He stopped in the middle of the two lanes of cars. “It’s okay, we can just go through them!”

Pink-boy looked to his left. It seemed like it was rush hour. An endless stream of traffic roared on the tarmac. “I-I can’t!”

“Just close your eyes and walk forward! It’s okay, trust me!”

Something nagged at the back of Pink-boy’s mind.  _ It’s okay, trust me _ . It triggered his thoughts. But he had no memories to spark off a flashback. Instead, Pink-boy blinked and tried to forget about it.

“Um,” he sighed to himself. He clenched his fists and suddenly bolted out, running to Tyler.

“Buttercup, look, open your ‘lil eyes! You did it! See, wasn’t that bad, eh?” Tyler beamed. “You didn’t even know you just ran through a truck!”

Pink-boy opened the slits in his face. He didn’t even realise they closed in the first place. Unsafe feelings crept up on him. He was standing in the middle of a highway with a familiar looking guy wearing a kimono and a ukulele. Oh, not to mention they were both  _ dead _ . 

“You ready to do it again?” Tyler whispered. “I know it’s scary, but you’ll get used to it…”

“I know, but I’m not scared anymore!” Pink-boy protested.

Tyler shrugged his shoulders and walked across the remaining road. Pink-boy held his breath as he followed behind. He saw a car coming and hurried ahead. 

“Oh, you  _ sure _ you’re not still scared?” Tyler joked. 

“Shut up,” Pink-boy grumbled. 

They continued to follow the heart-tugs. The city soon appeared on the horizon. Pink-boy was all tied up inside. They felt close. Tyler was playing a tune on his ukulele. It kind of depressed the mood a little, but Pink-boy didn’t care. Tyler hummed a song that Pink-boy’d never heard of before.  _ Na na na na, oh oh, na na na na, oh oh. _

“Wait, wait, I have something to tell you before we go into the city…”

Pink-boy looked over. “Mhm?”

“We’re going to be around other people, y’know? They can’t see you or hear you, but you can hear and see them. It’s going to feel really,  _ really _ strange.” Tyler sounded off. His fingers fumbled together and his voice wavered.

It set Pink-boy on edge. He didn’t know how to reply. He hoped that his nod was appropriate. 

“It’s alright, though, I’m just warning you, buttercup, it might make you feel a bit lost and sad?” Tyler spoke. “But I’m here, yeah?”

Pink-boy shifted uneasily. Tyler seemed odd. Maybe he’d tried speaking to the people before? Tyler was alone before Pink-boy died, right? Pink-boy didn’t know. “Okay, Ty, got it. Let’s, uh, get going, it’s this way.

He set off again, as Tyler watched him with woeful eyes. He hadn’t lied to him, only avoided certain truths, so why did he feel so guilty? He felt he should at least warn him. However Tyler kept quiet and followed on.

Luckily they didn’t go through the most condensed part of the city. Pink-boy led them through the suburbs. They slipped into the early morning street. It pained Tyler to watch his companion avoiding walking into anyone, carefully going around everyone, as if he didn’t want to bump into them. But he could just float right through. It’s like something hadn’t clicked yet. 

Tyler saw a girl walking towards them. He glanced over at an unbothered Pink-boy, and then back to the girl. Anytime now….

Pink-boy stopped in his tracks.

“What’s wrong, buttercup?” Tyler asked stupidly. 

“Nothing, it’s just…. I feel…. Down. Is this a side effect of dying? Is it normal?”

“Yes, it is,” Tyler replied bluntly.

Pink-boy looked around.

The girl was closer now. She was alone with earphones in. A long sleeved hoodie sat on her shoulders. 

“Is it coming from her?” Pink-boy stared at the girl.

Tyler wanted to put an arm around Pink-boy to comfort him. The first time was the hardest. Actually  _ no _ , the second,  _ wait _ , third? 

“You see her the bruise on her neck? She’s trying to cover it up…” Tyler uttered. “She’s abused at home. Her mum’s a drug addict, and takes all her anger out on her, can’t you feel her pain?”

They both watched as she walked straight past them.

“I d-don’t understand, Tyler,” Pink-boy felt defeated. “I want to help her.”

“That’s it, buttercup. We can’t help. There’s nothing we can do, no one can see us!”

Pink-boy looked back at the girl and started running after her. “Hey, miss, please…!”

“Buttercup! We can’t….” Tyler dolefully looked as the ghoul tried to get the girl’s attention. 

He tried touching her, he screamed at her, he told her it was going to be okay… It was impossible. His grasp fell right though. After more attempts, he let her slip away.

Silently, he wandered back to Tyler. 

“Why’s it gotta be that way?” Pink-boy mumbled. “No one realises except us. It’s not fair, I don’t want to know who I can’t save! Why did we feel her sadness?”

Tyler didn’t actually know the answer to this. But he had a theory.

“Souls feel pain. Sadness is a really complex emotion. Think of it like sound waves, yeah? So, some you can hear and some you can’t because they’re too high or low. If you’re alive, you can only feel others emotions to a certain point. I’ve worked out that sadness is too low of an emotion for other humans to feel. But wandering souls, like us, we’re in our purest form… So we can feel a vast amount of feelings, more than humans can. I’m still trying to figure it out, but that’s the best conclusion I can think of…” Tyler’s words flowed out quickly. He wasn’t even sure if he made sense.

Pink-boy didn’t seem to be listening. He glanced at the girl one more time, before he turned on his heel and followed the tugging inside.”Come on, let’s just find my dumb body.”

Tyler followed silently. He knew his friend was saddened, but he knew that he could do nothing to help. The only thing he could do was accompany him to find his vessel, so that’s what he did.

He trailed behind, gazing at the pigeons on the sidewalk. They were huddled around a discarded taco, pecking away, as people walked right past, sending them fluttering if they didn’t want to be stepped on. Tyler found himself reaching around for his uke, and he held it in his hands, singing softly to himself. The strings danced as a happy song came from within.

“She asked me, ‘Son, when I grow old, will you buy me a house of gold? And when your father turns to stone, will you take care of me?’” Tyler had nothing else productive to do, so he just continued, repeating the verse. Pink-boy didn’t seem to mind. “I will make you Queen of everything you see, I’ll put you on the map, I’ll cure you of disease…”

Pink-boy brought them along various streets. Tyler still sung his song, and Pink-boy slowed down so he could walk next to Tyler and hear the lyrics. He took his mind off the girl by clapping out a beat.

“Ohhhhh, and since we know that dreams are dead, and life turns plans up on their head, I will plan to be a bum,”

The claps became more confident, and the ukulele fit right into the beat.

“...So I just might  _ become someone! _ ” Tyler screamed.

As the song came to an ending, the claps stopped and Tyler sung delicately, as he gently plucked the strings on the ukulele.

He turned to Pink-boy. “Hey, how’d you learn to keep a beat like that?”

“I don’t know,” Pink-boy shrugged his shoulders. “I think I’ve heard that song before somewhere, so the beat just fitted. I shoulda had a tambourine, though.”

Tyler froze. His face dropped. “M-My grandpa taught me it when I was young… Buttercup, how did y-you know about the tambourine?”

“No idea, just felt like a song that should have a tambourine, don’t you think?” Pink-boy spoke, completely ignoring Tyler’s shock by accident. “Anyway, listen, the tug’s really strong right now.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” Pink-boy said breathlessly. “I think it’s over there.”

He pointed to a morgue on the other side of the street. Obviously it’d have to be in there, right?

They crossed the road and Pink-boy stood in front of the building. The pull was really strong. A deep nervous feeling suddenly set in. He took a huge breath, before looking over at Tyler. 

“Do you want me to go first?” Tyler asked, looking into the glass doors. Pink-boy nodded. 

Tyler walked through the glass, as Pink-boy hounded close. A receptionist sat at a desk, unaware of the two ghosts who stood in the lobby.

“Which way?” 

Pink-boy pointed to the right. “But it’s okay, I’ll go first, Ty.”

“Alright, buttercup, whatever’s comfortable.”

The boy lead the other down corridors, to a steel door. “I think this is the one.” 

Pink-boy stumbled through. He stood and felt his insides rearing up, the pull becoming cripplingly strong.

A body lay on the table. It was  _ his _ body. Pink-boy stood and looked. His lip was stitched, and a gasp was on his forehead. His pink hair was dirty and bloody. The body hadn’t been cleaned up yet. It was still wearing the same clothes as Pink-boy. Various bruises scattered the skin visible. 

“Are you okay?” Tyler whispered behind.

“It’s a lot to take in,” Pink-boy replied. He peered down at his vessel. “I can’t believe I’m dead. This is so fuc--”

“ _ \--Frick _ . It’s fricked up.” 

Pink-boy gave a very small smile. “Yeah, that,”

He reached out to touch his vessel’s skin. “So, how do I get my memories?”

“Check your arm for a moment,”

Pink-boy rolled up his sleeve. The symbols were glowing red. Tyler shifted uneasily at the colour. It looked like blood. Tyler was all too familiar with blood. 

“Um,” he said. “I’ve never really gotten this far before, I have no idea what to do…”

It was true. Tyler’d tried to help other wandering souls but he’d never gotten this far, they had never found their vessels in time. Tyler watched all of them burn up. He didn’t want this to happen to Pink-boy, though. He liked Pink-boy.

“Uhh…. Memories are kept in your mind, yes? So I presume you just, um, touch your vessel’s head?” Tyler said, eyes fixed on the crimson glow. He felt his hand go to his wrist, and his fingertips ran down his arm. It felt bumpy.

Pink-boy put a finger on the vessel’s forehead. “Uhm,”   


Nothing happenend.

“Try asking it?” Tyler laughed. “Be all like, _‘Yo, I want my memories back!’_ ” 

Giggling, Pink-boy asked the dead body. “Excuse me, Mr. Vessel, would you mind giving me my memories back? Please?”

Again, nothing.

“I’ll try something, wait,” Pink-boy put his hand on his own forehead. His arm with the sigils started to shake as he put his other hand on the vessel’s forehead. The symbols felt like they were burning his skin. He looked over at Tyler, who was staring in slight awe with wide eyes.

“I think it’s working, I think--” Pink-boy’s eyes suddenly flashed bright crimson. He collapsed to the floor. 

“Buttercup? Buttercup!” Tyler shouted, rushing over. 

But it was no use. Pink-boy blacked out. He felt his head fill with pressure, like when all the blood rushes to your head if you do a handstand. 

He started to remember. His name, his mum, his fifth birthday…. All of it came back to him. He remembered how he died. He remembered his first girlfriend. The brand of hair dye he used.

It all came crashing back. 

He remembered running down the street. A torch was in his hand. It flickered in the night.  _ Bambi? Here, boy, here! _ He whistled. He bumped into his sister….  _ Ashley? Have you seen him? _ Head shake. No. She calls Bambi a dumb dog and says she has homework. Ashley goes home. He continues to search. Whistle. It was midnight. Moon.  _ Bambi, where are you, bud? _ A bark. He follows it. Bambi is found. But Bambi won’t budge. Torch is still in his hand.  _ Come on, bud, let’s go home. _ Dog runs. He goes after it. Car. Torch smashes. Pain. Blood? Bambi licks his face. Lots of pain. Someone yells. He shakes. Lungs expand one last time. Heart stops beating. Bambi whines. Twisted arm. Busted lip. Taste of blood. Dead.

_ A car, a torch, a death. _

Buttercup! He heard his name.

No, not Buttercup, that’s not his name. His name’s Josh. 

Joshua William Dun.

He’s eighteen. He lives on a street with a big tree at the end. His favourite colour is pastel indigo. He has a scar on his leg from falling off a skateboard. His mum calls him Jojo, because she wanted a girl but he came along. He hasn’t got many friends. His favourite band is Blink-182. 

_ It’s okay, trust me! _ His mind races back to crossing the road before. And then it goes back even further. 

 

\--------

 

Josh was in a garden. Discarded juice pouches lay at the roots of a tree. A boy was sat next to him. He couldn’t see his face. It was blurry.

“Have you heard of a trust-fall?” The boy asked. His voice was so familiar.

Josh shook his head. 

“Can we try it?” The boy sounded excited. He was wearing red socks. 

They both stood up. Josh stood with his back facing the boy. He was supposed to fall back, and the boy was supposed to catch him. Josh hesitated. 

“It’s okay, trust me!” 

Josh sighs and closes his eyes. He starts to fall back. Arms catch him.

When he opens his eyes, he’s looking up at the face. It’s no longer blurry. Those brown eyes…. He knew them.

The background suddenly changes into the morgue ceiling. The face grows into Tyler.

“Buttercup, you alright? What just happened?”

Josh looked up at him. He slowly sat up. “Tyler, I--”

“Take it slow, shh,” He helped Josh up. 

“I remember everything. I got all my memories back…”

Tyler’s face lit up. It worked! “Really? That’s great, buttercup, what do you remember?”

“You.” Josh said, gazing at his long-lost friend.

“Sorry, what?”

  
“ _...I remember you, Ty. _ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, yes I was singing Stressed Out when I was writing the last section of this fic. Oops. #Noragrets


End file.
